Winter 2018

Covert Operations: Just War or Dirty Hands?
Covert Operations: Just War or Dirty Hands?

Two Christian schools of thought might support covert operations and espionage: the just war tradition and a kind of “dirty hands” moralism. The dirty hands view says all those in political power must unavoidably resort to evil for the common good. The just war tradition has a different approach.

Monroe Doctrine 2.0: America Needs to Revive an Old Doctrine
Monroe 2.0: America Needs to Revive an Old Doctrine

We have heard much in recent years about Washington’s “Pacific pivot” aimed at deterring Chinese adventurism in the South China Sea and the “reassurance initiative” aimed at deterring Russian revisionism in Eastern Europe. What has received far less attention is Beijing’s pivot to the Americas and Moscow’s revival of Cold War-style intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

Does Liberalism Have a Future?
Does Liberalism Have a Future?

Today we see forces against liberalism at home and abroad. We need statesmen who understand liberalism and who can make the case for limited, representative, and accountable government.

The Dueling Moralities of Middle Eastern Democracy
The Dueling Moralities of Middle Eastern Democracy

Should we support Middle Eastern majorities as they organize their states even when the results defy our notions of democracy? Or should we support Middle Eastern minorities—Christians, Jews, Yazidis, liberal Muslims—who stand in fear of tyrannous ochlocracy?

Resurrecting Woodrow Wilson: A Christian Critique of Liberal Internationalism
Resurrecting Woodrow Wilson: A Christian Critique of Liberal Internationalism

On January 8, 1918—one hundred years ago—President Woodrow Wilson mounted the rostrum of the House of Representatives, America’s inner sanctum of democracy, to deliver one of the most consequential speeches in history.

Perfidy: A Christian and Muslim Summary

When is lying permissible in war? Mark Coppenger indicates several instances in the Christian just war tradition but insists there is no room for perfidy or treachery.

Yoder
Yoder, Sex Abuse, and War

Recently, the legacy of John Howard Yoder has come under scrutiny in light of his prolific sexual misconduct. Mark Tooley argues that these revelations further demonstrate that Yoder twisted his theology to suit his lifestyle.

Between Two Caesars: The Christian Militias of Northern Iraq
Between Two Caesars: The Christians of Northern Iraq

After becoming direct victims of ISIS violence in 2014, no significant Christian groups in northern Iraq chose neutrality, and most fought in Christian militias rather than integrating into larger Iraqi or Kurdish forces.

Burns and Novick’s The Vietnam War is Profoundly and Fundamentally Wrong
Burns and Novick’s The Vietnam War is Profoundly and Fundamentally Wrong

From my perspective the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick production of “The Vietnam War” had but one objective: to reinforce the standard anti-war narrative that the Vietnam War was unwinnable, illegal, immoral, and ineptly conducted by the allies from start to finish.